Horiemon revels in pricking the Establishment’s bubble

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SPIKY haired, slightly pudgy and irrepressibly bouncy, Takafumi Horie was always going to have one nickname: Horiemon. It is a simple play on “Doriemon”, one of Japan’s cutest and most beloved cartoon characters, but the Livedoor president is anything but cuddly.

Japanese companies traditionally have grown through careful progress, but Mr Horie has created his internet empire by buying whatever he thinks will make him richer. While this attitude has placed him against the brick wall of the Japanese business establishment, he has forged on where other young mavericks have faltered.